NCP lashes out at Congress for doubting its credentials

Mumbai: The Maharashtra unit of NCP today lashed out at the Congress for doubting its credentials as an opposition force and questioned why the Congress state leadership had sought NCP's support for the Mukhed Assembly by-election scheduled for tomorrow.

"If the Congress felt that we are not a formidable opposition force, why did its chief Manikrao Thakre seek our written support to the Congress candidate for the Mukhed Assembly by-elections. Our legislator Prakash Gajbhiye and other local leaders campaigned in the constituency along with Ashok Chavan and Manikrao Thakre," NCP state chief Sunil Tatkare said here today.

He said voters decide who will be in opposition and after 15 years of rule in Delhi, Congress drew a blank in the recent assembly polls. Tatkare was responding to questions on his Congress counterpart Manikrao Thakre's charge that NCP has not yet cleared doubts in the minds of people about its support to the BJP-led government and Congress alone was the opposition party in the state.

"NCP organised statewide silent protest on January 30 to condemn attempts to glorify Nathuram Godse and also held demonstrations to protest exclusion of 1.77 crore beneficiaries who are above poverty line (APL) from the Food Security Act," Tatkare said.

Tatkare refused to be drawn into the issue of Shiv Sena ministers complaining about non allocation of work in the ministry. "If these charges are true, then we ought to question how transparent this government really is," he said.

"We would wait and watch," he said in reply to a question about Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar's statement that Shiv Sena should first pull out of the government and then criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi.